Barack Obama

  • In the government, it\'s said that nothing has more endurance, or lasts longer than a document stamped \"top secret\". A presidential advisory panel tasked with developing a newly streamlined classification and declassification system for the government wrestled with one proposal to get rid of one existing category all together.

    July 26, 2010
  • Let\'s face it, meetings are a necessary evil for the federal workforce. But what if you could use a collaboration tool that lets you participate digitally? The next generation of virtual collaboration tools are almost the next best thing to being there.

    July 22, 2010
  • Agency leaders say a commitment hiring and training contract oversight personnel is an important step towards balancing the federal budget and increasing efficiency. They highlight several creative cost-cutting measures being undertaken government-wide.

    July 16, 2010
  • A Yemeni man held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay for eight years has been sent home after a judge concluded he had no connection to al Qaeda and ordered his release, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Reuters reports, Mohammed Odaini is the first Yemeni sent home since U.S. President Barack Obama halted repatriations after allegations that a Yemeni al Qaeda affiliate was behind a failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day.

    July 14, 2010
  • Sometime in the next few weeks, the Senate is expected to take up a bill designed to strengthen the nation\'s cybersecurity infrastructure. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the legislation Thursday by voice vote.

    June 25, 2010
  • On October 5, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13514- Federal Leadership in Environment, Energy, and Economic Performance- aimed at making ambitious and broad improvements in the overall sustainability of the federal government. The order requires all federal agencies to inventory their greenhouse gas emissions, set emissions reduction targets, and develop strategies and action plans for meeting a wide range of sustainability goals encompassing water and energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The EO puts the federal agencies in the position of being trail blazers. This ambitious goal presents great opportunities for green transformation and its own set of unique challenges. Noblis is pleased to announce a panel discussion on \"Leading the Way: Federal Green Initiatives,\" where key public sector stakeholders will discuss the strategies they are pursuing, the challenges they are facing and expect to encounter, and steps they are taking to ensure the success of their sustainability initiatives.

    June 24, 2010
  • Now that he\'s officially announced his plans to leave by the end of summer, what will be the legacy of OMB Director Peter Orszag as the President\'s chief budget guru? One man who has watched the career of Orszag for many years says along with high profile subjects like health care reform and the economic stimulus, the OMB chief also changed the way government works in other, less public ways.

    June 23, 2010
  • The Obama administration is attacking the $100 billion improper payments problem on yet another front.

    June 21, 2010
  • President Obama has issued a memo detailing the steps agencies must take to do pre-and post-award audits on who gets federal funds. By the fall, agencies will have to check several databases to ensure the recipient is permitted to get money.

    June 18, 2010
  • Women who work for the federal government, like their private sector counterparts, face unique challenges in balancing their personal lives with their careers. For the first time in its 6-year history, the Department of Homeland Security convened a diversity forum designed to give agency women an opportunity to discuss common challenges.

    June 18, 2010
  • The federal administration is looking for ways to improve contracting with small businesses - in particular through the use of innovative strategies and technologies - and they want the public\'s input on how it might be done. In an April Memo, President Obama established an interagency task force to improve agency contracting with small businesses. In addition to the creation of a Web site - that tracks agency progress in meeting small business goals - the President highlighted the importance of contracting with businesses owned by minorities, the socially and economically disadvantaged, and disabled veterans. Public input can be given in person at a meeting to held on June 28th in Washington\'s Commerce auditorium, or submitted via email by June 30th. The task force report is due out by the end of August.

    June 17, 2010
  • Chinese leaders may be willing to realign some of their weapons and ease tensions with Taiwan. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, who visited China and Taiwan earlier made the comments during a Senate hearing. The move may have been coated with hopes that the U.S. suspend or abandon future weapons sales to Taiwan. China broke of military to military talks with the U.S. after the Obama administration announced plans to sell Taiwan up to $6.4 billion in arms.

    June 17, 2010
  • Senator Joseph Lieberman thinks his cybersecurity bill will be the one to cross the finish line to the President\'s desk.

    June 16, 2010
  • With as many as 40 different cybersecurity bills in various stages of consideration on Capitol Hill, which one will make it to President Obama\'s desk? The chairman of one powerful Senate committee is betting his cybersecurity measure will win approval in the Senate, and eventually earn the President\'s signature before mid-summer.

    June 16, 2010